Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Matterhorn BobsledsDisney attraction portraits #3: Matterhorn BobsledsDisney's original mountain, home of Harold the yeti. The world's first tubular steel track roller coaster and Disney's first mountain. The Matterhorn has never been replicated (yet anyway) at any other Disney park, though Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom has a great cover-version known as Expedition Everest. I'd be hard pressed to say which I enjoyed more, the simple fun of the original or the big thrills and high-tech yeti of the newer version. Which one I'd rather draw, though, is easy: I love the look of the white-furred, blue-faced original yeti. And so: here's the Matterhorn!

Oh, and the guy climbing the mountain on the side? They used to have guys actually do that in Disneyland every day. To see a larger version, visit my DeviantArt account.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Soon, my hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan will soon have its own roller derby league. My wife Christa and I are both pretty excited about this and look forward to going to see tough girls slamming into one another at high speeds as soon as things get rollin'.

Christa hasn't been on skates in forever, so she's a little leery of jumping rightin and strapping on the skates (though I know a big part of her wants to), so instead she's doing some volunteering for them and has been placed on the fundraising committee. I heard through the grapevine that they didn't have a logo design picked out yet, though they did have some people working on something already. I decided, completely unsolicited by anybody, to come up with a design on my own and send it in. Potentially I'd be stepping on somebody's toes, possibly no one would like what I came up with. It's the kind of assertive move I probably don't make often enough. Anyway, here's the design I sent in:

Turns out, they loved it and it looks like I got it to them just in time! They're sending off to be printed on T-shirts this week so it'll be ready for their first fundraiser on June 25! Since they have to pay for each individual color (and there are seven on the image above - not counting black since the shirts can be black), they asked if I could come up with a two-tone version, which I had no problem with. It sounds like this will be the version on the initial T-shirt design:

I also sent them a single-color version that I include here just because I didn't expect it to look very good, but actually think it came out kind of nice:

If anybody is interested, I'll let you know where you can get the shirts once they're available. Support local fun!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The Haunted MansionDisney attraction portraits #2: The Haunted Mansion."When hinges creak in doorless chambers and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls, whenever candlelights flicker where the air is deathly still, that is the time when ghosts are present, practicing their terror with ghoulish delight!" Welcome, foolish mortals, to my Haunted Mansion attraction portrait. A handful of the attraction's 999 happy haunts have come out to socialize with you, including the famous hitchhiking ghosts, the mysterious hat box ghost, and the original version of the attic's beating-heart bride. In the background are (from left to right), Walt Disney World's mansion exterior, the Disneyland original, and the Disneyland Paris ride remix known as Phantom Manor.

As you can probably tell, this is a combination of two physical drawings, one drawing of anything that's a solid object (the caretaker, the singing busts, the graves, etc.) and another of just the ghosts. Put them together, adjust the opacity of the ghosts, and taa-daa: see-through apparitions!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Sometimes you just feel like drawing an octopus wearing a fake mustache taking his dog for a walk while riding a scooter, enjoying a hotdog, picking a flower, doffing his hat, playing paddleball, and carrying a balloon.

About Me

Brodie H. Brockie is the co-founder and current head writer of the long-running comedy site, Cap'n Wacky's Boatload of Fun. His writing has also appeared in Myspace/Dark Horse Presents Vol. 1, McSweeney's Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans, and on thecitydesk.net. Brodie also runs worldfamousjunglecruise.com, a tribute to the Disney attraction, because apparently being a comic book nerd isn't embarrassing enough. Brodie has launched the Fantastic Four's headquarters into space six times. For more than you care to know about Brodie, visit brodiehbrockie.com.